Based on research done after a 1980s restoration, the statue was believed to have been made in Anatolia during the early Hellenistic era (4th century B.C.), but a study of the lead isotopes in the metal alloy found they came from mines in the lower basin of the Yangtze River in southeastern China. Armed with the hard science, researchers reexamined the lion’s design and found characteristic features of Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) sculptures in the head, mane and chest.
This style of creature had a specific function in Tang Dynasty sculpture as tomb guardians. Known as zhenmushou figures, they were fantastical beasts ferocious in demeanor that were placed at tomb gates to scare away evil spirits and protect the spirits of the dead. By the 7th century, they were typically placed in pairs, one with a human-like face, one with a lion or beast-like face.
Some of the characteristic features shared by St. Mark’s lion and zhenmushou figures include wide nostrils with a moustache pointing up on each side, a wide open mouth with a pair of wide-set canines in the top jaw and more narrow set ones on the bottom, a flat plate of teeth between them and prominent orbital sockets in which horns were mounted. The orbitals are truncated in the lion, indicating that it too had once had horns or antlers, but they were amputated to make him look more lionine. His ears also appear to have been trimmed and rounded, as the original zhenmushou ears were higher and pointed.
The lion likely made its way west over the Silk Road through India and Afghanistan, which had a very active flow of trade during the Tang Dynasty.